Category: Top Places

Europe, Top Places

A Look Back at the Best Barbecue in Europe: Pendergast Smokehouse, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Let’s try this — on Thursdays, I plan to re-post reviews of restaurants from earlier days of the Blog as a service to our more recent readers.  Here’s a post on the best barbecue place in Europe, and a Top Place by any standard. ### Wow! That was my reaction to my first bite of brisket at Pendergast Smokehouse in Amsterdam.  I was stunned by … Continue reading A Look Back at the Best Barbecue in Europe: Pendergast Smokehouse, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

John TannerLeave a comment
Alabama, Other foods, Top Places

Rest in Peace, Jimmy Koikos of the Bright Star, Bessemer, Alabama

When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions. Jimmy Koikos of the Bright Star has passed on.  The Bright Star is the oldest restaurant in Alabama, having opened in 1907, and it is known and loved for great seafood (the  Greek red snapper and the gumbo), great desserts (Nick Saban loves the coconut pie), and the warm, friendly presence of Jimmy Koikos … Continue reading Rest in Peace, Jimmy Koikos of the Bright Star, Bessemer, Alabama

John Tanner3 Comments
Tennessee, Top Places

Update: Ramey’s Bar B Que, Parsons, Tennessee

Update: I’ve just posted on a couple of new whole hog barbecue places in Birmingham, outposts of Rodneys Scott’s of Charleston and Martin’s of Nashville.  Naturally my thoughts have returned to the great barbecue and the great people at Ramey’s  in Parsons, Tennessee. You will recall that during the Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour, upon leaving Ramey’s, I was so overwhelmed that I backed … Continue reading Update: Ramey’s Bar B Que, Parsons, Tennessee

John TannerLeave a comment
Alabama, Other foods, Top Places

Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Cahaba Heights, Alabama

I was very impressed by the whole hog barbecue places in Tennessee during my Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour.  You will, no doubt, recall my reviews of B.E. Scott’s in Lexington and Ramey’s, in Parsons, the friendliest town in the world.  After eating at B.E. Scott’s and Ramey’s, I was tempted to travel on to Nashville to try Martin’s, but Nashville is not in … Continue reading Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Cahaba Heights, Alabama

John Tanner3 Comments
North Carolina, Top Places

Back to Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge, Shelby, North Carolina

My favorite, or certainly one of my favorite, barbecue meals ever was at Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge.  You can, and should, read that review here.  It was on Day 2 of my three-day, three-a-day North Carolina Piedmont Tour de Barbecue a while back.  So while we were in Charlotte for the Griffin – Duckworth wedding, Nancy and I decided to drive to Red Bridges for … Continue reading Back to Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge, Shelby, North Carolina

John Tanner5 Comments
North Carolina, ribs, Top Places

Noble Smoke, Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte need no longer skulk about when people are talking about barbecue.  Noble Smoke has arrived and Charlotte can hold its head high: they have a Top Place. It was not always so.  Famously, when Charlotte was announced as the site of the 2012 Democratic Convention, Michelle Obama touted Charlotte’s “great barbecue.”  Mayor Anthony Foxx, perhaps America’s most honest elected official since … George Washington … Continue reading Noble Smoke, Charlotte, North Carolina

John Tanner4 Comments
North Carolina, Top Places

Back to Lexington Barbecue #1, Lexington, North Carolina

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways. Why does Lexington Barbecue #1 make me quote poetry, as it did in my first review, here?   For now, let’s just say that if you come across a Best Barbecue list that does not include Lexington #1 just tear it up and throw it straight into the trash.  Well, if you’re looking at the Best … Continue reading Back to Lexington Barbecue #1, Lexington, North Carolina

John Tanner1 Comment
Tennessee, Top Places

Ramey’s Bar B Que, Parsons, Tennessee

Well, heck.  If you’re in Lexington, Tennessee, at around noon on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from March 1 to early December or January, and all you’ve had to eat all morning is a truly wonderful barbecue sandwich at B.E. Scott’s (okay, and some chips and slaw), you might as well — should — drive on a ways to Parsons, Tennessee, and have a … Continue reading Ramey’s Bar B Que, Parsons, Tennessee

John Tanner17 Comments
Tennessee, Top Places

B.E. Scott’s Bar-B-Que, Lexington, Tennessee

You should go to Lexington, Tennessee.  It’s a town of about 7,700 souls, situated midway between Memphis and Nashville.  John McAfee, the guy who started the computer security company of that name and could live wherever he wants, has chosen to live there, so it clearly has many charms.  Maybe he likes barbecue.  Some local folks claim that Lexington is the barbecue capital of the … Continue reading B.E. Scott’s Bar-B-Que, Lexington, Tennessee

John Tanner5 Comments
Tennessee, Top Places

Helen’s Bar B Q, Brownsville, Tennessee

What a day.  Day 2 of the Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour started with a planned sandwich at the excellent Dixie Pig in Blytheville, Arkansas.  Then I learned about the barbecue at the Kream Kastle in Blytheville, and had to try their sandwich.  I headed to Helen’s to try her barbecue, but was delayed by a heavy thunderstorm that I decided to wait out over another … Continue reading Helen’s Bar B Q, Brownsville, Tennessee

John Tanner9 Comments